Damn. Where do I start? NSLC was a lot more than a simple medical-leadership-nerd camp. I guess I’ll start the day before my flight. In an excellent display of preparation, I went to the airport a day early. I walked up to the check-in counter and the lady stared at me and said, “Son, I’m afraid your flight is tomorrow.” After pondering why she was scared, I told my dad and went home to get ready for the actual flight. But hey, at least I got a test run before my first time traveling alone right? Regardless, it wasn’t the best start to my first extended time away from home…My actual flight to SFO really wasn’t that bad. The first leg, from my home to JFK was great. I had a whole three seats to myself. The flight from JFK to SFO, was more crowded but I still had a good time listening to music and watching TV/ America slip by beneath me. When I finally got to UC Berkeley, after an awkward bus ride with just one other person from the airport to the school, I was pretty excited to meet my roommate. Although he was really shy at first, my roommate, Chee, from South Korea, turned out to be an awesome guy. I knew, however, that the first few days were going to take some adjusting. At first I didn’t really like my TA group or the people in it and I didn’t really have many people to talk to. By the end this all changed (Alex, Vivek and I ended up spending an entire TA session laughing).

My room became the congregation spot for the entire floor. Everyone came because Andy, Danny, Chee, and I were simply put the best suite on the floor. After a few days we all became friends and people would stay up late telling stories or just hanging out in the room. We started late night poker games using soap bars for chips and I remember winning almost all of the games. I’d have to say my highlight was playing guitar to Under the Bridge and having 10 kids sing along. Either that or the hour me and Ian spent telling completely insensitive jokes like dead baby jokes. Regardless, these people became my good friends, and I regret not being able to keep in touch with all of them.

Although the medical/leadership seminars were fun, the best part was hanging out with the people. Shimmy and Vivek from my TA group turned out to be two awesome people that I hope I keep in touch with. Even though she probably hated me, I also remember Ashley (Jiapeng) because she would always call me Hilal. The social events were fun, from karaoke to game night (where I really came out of my shell). I also really enjoyed the ropes course because I was the first one to do every challenge in my group. Anyways, I find it surprising how quickly you can make friends at a camp like this. I met Athena on the second to last day, but now its safe to say she’s one of my good friends that I can easily be open with. I think thats ultimately the most amazing part of the experience- the ability and chance to meet new people and make great friends. I definitely feel I got that out of the program. I could say more, but there is no point in recapping the whole trip. All I really have to say is that it was amazing and I hope everyone gets the chance to do something similar.

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